Uptown XO ft. Diamond District "Told You So"

Listen/Download XO's new album Monumental II

Diamond District On Twitter

Follow us @XOyUoddisee

ESPN Uses More Diamond District

EPSN uses Diamond District's "In The Ruff" & "Off The Late Night to score their latest clips of Paul Rodriguez & TJ Degroat

Diamond District @ CMJ 2010

If you're in NYC during CMJ, come see Diamond District perform along with Black Sheep, Nottz, Big Pooh + Hall of Justus, Chip Fu, Rah Digga, Von Pea, Moe green, DaVinci, The Niceguys, and The Left at the Audible Treats CMJ Showcase on Thursday, October 20th, at Sullivan Hall. It's 18+ and tix are only $10 in advance: http://bit.ly/AT_CMJ_2010

Free Diamond District Show Tue. Oct. 12 2010

Diamond District will be performing with a live band for the first time. The Show is free but the seating is limited. RSVP here

Peace Fat Beats

As you may or may not know, Fat Beats LA & Fat Beats NY closed their doors today. I'm not going to waste time listing the reasons for their closure. Times are changing and the formats in which we receive & listen to music are as well. What will stay the same is this, the importance of a venue that allows artists & fans alike to meet. Fat Beats was more than just a record store to me, it was a place where music came to life. Getting my art work approved before manufacturing meant the record was coming out. Seeing a .jpg of my album on iTunes & blogs meant it was available. Seeing my record on the shelf of a Fat Beats store with my name written in magic marker on a white sheet of paper meant it was real.
Coming out for the numerous in stores to perform, meet fans, answer questions and network meant the album reached people, people in the real world. Can we create a place in today's world where artist can congregate, fans come to hear new Hip Hop coupled with an intimate performance that give us more incentive to support the music we love? I think so and I intend to focus on that. Hip Hop is alive & well, respect the past, now lets embrace the future.

Here's a few photographs I took in Fat Beats LA & NY. Some videos as well. Thank you Fat Beats

Now That's A Fan

Trek Life DC Release Party & Diamond District Show

This Saturday, July 31, 2010 will be a great day for Hip Hop in Washington DC. Trek Life will be coming to DC for the first time to celebrate the release of his new album "Everything Changed Nothing". Trek will also be DJ'ing and premiering songs from my next three releases. details below

Venue: Policy

Address: 1904 14th St NW
Washington DC 20009

Time: 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Free admission, open to the public



Later on that evening just down the road from Trek's release party, there will be an all star DC hip hop line up performing at the Black Cat. Featuring Diamond District, DTMD, Cornell West Theory, Damu The Fudgemunk & DJ Underdog hosted by Grap Luva. Set Times & details below.

Set order:

DTMD: 9:30-9:45

Damu The Fudgemunk: 10:00-10:30
Cornell West Theory: 10:45-11:30
Diamond District: 11:45-12:30

Venue: The Black Cat
Address: 1811 14th st. NW
Washington DC
20009
Doors at 9:00pm
18+
Tickets $12.00

Both events are taking place this Saturday July 31st, 2010

De La Soul Are Diamond District Fans

Diamond District recently performed at the Brooklyn Hip Hop festival. The headliners of the event we De La Soul. BrooklynBodega caught up with the legendary group after their performance. Here's what they had to say about Diamond District

BB: You have so many fans all over the place. You just mentioned that you’ll listen to Mos‘ album and think you have to step your game up. Are there any new artists that you’re feeling? Are there any younger cats that you like and how do you feel about the way Hip-Hop is right now?

Pos: Overall, creativity is definitely lacking. But there’s always good groups, man. There’s always new things that I can hear. There’s new things that I hear from the South. It can be a rhyme that Jeezy said [and I’m like] “Whoa!”. There are things that Lil Wayne says, there’s always things that I hear that I think sounds dope. One of the groups that I’ve been stuck on for a minute — I’ve known Oddisee for the longest — but his project Diamond District, I’m stuck on them n*****. I love Diamond District. I play that shit every day…

BB: You missed them. They rocked earlier today.

Pos: I know. Religiously, I rock with them. I mess with them.

Visit BrooklynBodega.com for the entire interview

ESPN Uses Apllo Brown's Remix Of Daimond District's "Streets Won't Let Me Chill"

ESPN covers NYC's biggest skate competition to date and uses Apollo Brown's remix of Diamond District's "Streets Won't Let Me Chill" as background music.

LRG Uses "Streets Won't Let Me Chill" In Skate Video

5th Annual J Dilla Tribute & Fund Raiser

The DMV loves Dilla each and every day, but this Friday heads are really expected to come out and represent for the 5th Annual J Dilla Tribute and Fundraiser. The Washington, DC music community will come together once again for a night filled with hip hop and soul to honor the legacy of beatmaker, producer and DJ extraordinaire J Dilla who lost his battle with lupus in 2006. This year's tribute is on tap to be the largest yet, with a venue change to the Black Cat and with special guest Talib Kweli headlining the event, which will feature local talent galore such as Kokayi, Diamond District and Alison Carney to name a few. The brainchild of J Laine who will serve as the evening's musical director, proceeds from the event will benefit the J Dilla and Lupus Foundations. Tickets are on sale for the low-low of $15 in advance and $20 day of the show at the Black Cat box office or online at TicketAlternative.

Taken from http://soulbounce.com

Diamond District Performing At The 6th Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival

Bodega, and The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival (BHF), announces today the addition of Diamond District, Large Professor, J. Period, Rakaa Iriscience, DJ Babu and Uncle Ralph McDaniels to the 2010 lineup.

DC’s own Diamond District and mixtape king and BHF repeat offender, J. Period will perform on the 6th annual Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival’s main stage. Two-thirds of California trio Dilated Peoples, Rakaa Iriscience and DJ Babu, will bring their West Coast stylings to the thousands in attendancel. Hip-Hop pioneer, entrepreneur and visionary, Uncle Ralph McDaniels will again host for the fifth time. The legendary Large Professor will be on the wheels of steel during the Show & Prove Super Bowl on Monday, July 5th.

“Diamond District released one of the best albums of 2009 with ‘In The Ruff’. For a lot of people BHF ’10 will be their first taste of the Washington, D.C. trio and they will not be disappointed. J. Period is one of the few acts that have participated in The Festival for multiple years. His live mixtape with special guests has been a consistent Festival highlight. This year he has even a few more tricks up his sleeve that may even be better than Black Thought last year. We’re also honored to have Rakaa Iriscience and DJ Babu on hand, further highlighting Hip-Hop’s cross-regional artistry. And of course we are honored to have our mentor, Uncle Ralph back as our host. His dedication to Hip-Hop for over 20 years is our inspiration. If that was not enough The Extra Large Professor will be joining us for July 5th’s ‘Show and Prove’ Super Bowl. A great lineup just got better.” – Wes Jackson, Executive Director, The Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival.

For More On The Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival Visit http://www.bkhiphopfestival.com/

Diamond District XXL Mention

If you’re like me, then you’re probably worn out from all of the Drake footage that sites like the main hustle are flooding the e-waves with (I apologize for that). It happens from time to time, and while I do find it somewhat annoying myself there’s actually a percentage of society that truly care about every single thing the guy does.

For the other 85% of the hip hop world, however, most of us look to the sites like the main hustle either for new, different sounds or to snatch up “unauthorized” leaks before those alphabet boys come killing UserShare links and what have you. I personally have been listening to stuff that’s decidedly un-Aubrey like, and here are a few of said artists.

Diamond District: Wale isn’t the only act people should recognize from the DMV. Oddisee, XO and yU have ironically made some of the best East Coast boom-bap from the land of go-go and… errr… The Wire. The Diamond District released In The Ruff as a free (albeit edited) album last spring, and when it officially dropped in stores several months later it was still able to move units. Perhaps New York should pay attention to that instead of blaming everybody else for its issues.

Diamond District LIVE @ The Fix (Portland, OR debut)

Diamond District LIVE @ The Fix (Portland, OR debut) from Chase.Freeman on Vimeo.

May 6th, 2010 [Portland, OR] - Chase Freeman and Kenny Fresh of FreshSelects.net had the opportunity to introduce the city of Portland to the D.C. collective by the name of Diamond District (Oddisee, yU, & X.O.)

Above are some visuals of the FREE show at Someday Lounge during First Thursday @ The Fix, a legendary Thursday night event in Portland showcasing the ever-changing art and music scene.

Bonus

Click the cover to download our live performance in Portland or visit
:: REALNMDZ.COM (MUSIC section).

Live Performance Track Listing
1. Something For Ya’ll
2. Oddisee Accapella
3. Streets Won’t Let Me Chill
4. Who I Be
5. yU Accapella
6. Back 2 Basics
7. In The Ruff
8. X.O. – I Want In (Accapella)
9. The Shining
10. Make It Clear
11. Let Me Explain
12. I Mean Business
13. Ronin Roc Outro

Diamond District Featured In The Huffington Post

Diamond District Brings D.C. Hip Hop to L.A. (VIDEO)

The venerable DJ store Fat Beats on Melrose was welcome to L.A.'s first visit by Hip Hop artists Diamond District, an infectious charge of old school rap flavored by the emcees' region, the "DMV" -- the area spanning D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, a merging of affluent areas with impoverished neighborhoods wrapped around the heart of America's government. The group gets its name from the diamond-shaped layout that is the District of Columbia.

Oddisee, the group's producer and one of Diamond District's three emcees, explains that the juxtaposition of the poorest neighborhoods and the richest centers of power makes for "a terrible combination." Nonetheless, he asserted that having traveled the country and around the world, the D.C. area is still one of the best places to be African-American. At Diamond District's performance the previous evening at the Self-Help Graphics Center on Caesar Chavez in East L.A., Oddisee introduced himself to the audience as part Arab, part Black.

D.C.'s diverse music scene has been known in the past for Hard Core or Go-Go, and home to such multi-genre masters as Thievery Corporation. The array of cultures and sounds is a theme throughout Oddisee's layered arrangements and moody composition on the Diamond District tracks, and Oddisee openly aspires to the ranks of the late J Dilla, the innovative and influential DJ/emcee. Oddisee Music has put out several solo rap albums, an album of beat instrumentals akin to DJ Dimitri from Paris or DJ Shadow, as well as produced with other local artists.

Diamond District is a collaboration of Oddisee with emcees yU and XO, backed by DJ Quartermaine, all of whom are independently prolific solo artists. Their collective effort is an earnest attempt to revive the sound of early Hip Hop, a styled once termed "Boom Bap" by KRS-ONE for the classic old school rhythm comprised of a booming bass line, complimented by a bumping cymbal/snare sound.

Diamond District's socially conscious lyrics are a welcome relief from the played-out materialism of mainstream rap, removed from thuggery and overindulgence. Their rhymes and alliteration, punctuated with a staccato flow, carve dense portraits of scrapping to get by, direct outrage at corrupt powers, and map out their disciplines and dreams, while asserting their love of soul music with vigor. Their voices seem bigger than their years, their flows sharpened with a DC-area drawl, and their delivery confident and charismatic.

At this in-store performance in West Hollywood, this group that has traveled the world nonetheless warmed to the inauspicious setting as their introduction to the entertainment capital of the world. Oddisee even ripped on his DJ, Quartmaine, for being a Cancer-Leo cusp, a pretty L.A. thing to do. Though their debut album In The Ruff has only been out a few weeks, several in the crowd knew it well enough to request songs and sing along.

In this video, Oddisee explains Diamond District's musical goals, and the group performs their album's opening song, "Streets Won't Let Me Chill." Insisting on getting the small gathering hyped, Oddisee leads those present in call and response during the song, rather amusingly.

Massive shout out to John Ennis for doing this! Check out other music documentary work at www.johnennis.tv

Diamond District LA

Super Late on Diamond District's LA pics, my bad y'all.

Diamond District & DJ Quartermaine - Seattle

We recently spent 5 days in Seattle. we had three shows, a live performance on radio and an amazing time. From performing at an underground party (no really... underground) to shutting it down with Diamond District to DJ Quartermaine rocking the dance floor... We did Seattle right. A massive shout out to Samuel Chesneau & DJ100Proof for their amazing hospitality.